For my Wiki research I chose Learning Styles.I feel that it is very important for teachers to incorporate different methods of teaching that reach all of the learning styles since every student learns differently.
The top 5 things I learned:
1. There are three major classifications or types of learning styles recognized with one more recently added on.The four main types of learning styles are visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and vocalic.
"Learning styles are various approaches or ways of learning. They involve education methods, particular to an individual, that are presumed to allow that individual to learn best. Most people prefer an identifiable method of interacting with, taking in, and processing stimuli or information. Based on this concept, the idea of individualized "learning styles" originated in the 1970s, and acquired enormous popularity."
2. What is the difference between those four learning styles? Visual learners are those who generally think in terms of pictures.They often prefer to see things written down in a handout, text, or on the overhead. They find maps, graphs, charts, and other visual learning tools to be extremely effective. They remember things best by seeing something written. Auditory learners are those who generally learn best by listening. They typically like to learn through lectures, discussions, and reading aloud. They remember best through hearing or saying items aloud. Kinesthetic learners, also called tactile learners, are those who learn best through touching, feeling, and experiencing that which they are trying to learn. They remember best by writing or physically manipulation the information. Vocalic learners refers to talking oneself through something. These learners learn best by counting out loud, repeating, or verbalizing the steps in some process or procedure.
3. There is a danger in classifying students by learning style because it can result in a tendency toward pigeonholing students with these labels. For example, it is not uncommon to hear, "John likes to move around and is a kinesthetic learner, so he needs to be taught using hands-on activities rather than lecture-type instruction." Additionally, auditory learners are often viewed as being better at language arts, english, and social studies. Consequently, when a child is labeled with one particular learning style, it is often done through limited experience with one method of learning, or by making predictions about the ways in which teachers or parents think the students learn best.
4. Instead on focusing on the ways in which we think children learn best we should focus on two important things:
Providing a balance of learning opportunities in the classroom so that children have opportunities to learn content in a variety of ways, and through different sensory experiences.
Rather than focusing on the manner in which we think a student learns best, it is better to have a deeper understanding of the ways in which we know the student struggles or the students' areas of weakness
5. There are four main different learning style models:
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Kolb's Learning Style Model
Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument
Felder-Silverman Learning Style Model
Resources: I chose this video because it not only gave you information about the different learning styles, but it also had funny video clips that demonstrated examples of each type of learning style. I would give this video a 3 out of 5 because it didn't go much into detail about the learning styles, but it was a fun video to watch.
The next video I chose because it was a short clip and I felt like it gave great examples of the learning styles. Dr. Brian Walsh also gave you clues of how to recognize different type of learners, which could be very helpful when communicating with your students. He also had other interesting ideas on labeling students, and also gives a few statistics. I think everyone should watch this five minute clip. I would give this video a 4 out of 5.
I really like this next video because it actually shows you the difference it can make by using these learning style strategies. It would not let me embed the video "upon request" but I posted the link and I encourage everyone to check it out, it is a shot three minute clip. I would give this video a 5 out of 5 because I felt like it was inspirational. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv_MzGSguF8&feature=related
The next resource I found is a slide show. I find this slide show extremely informational. It goes into full detail about everything you could know about learning styles, and what effect people's learning. It is somewhat long, but if you have the time to go through it I would recommend it because you really learn a lot. I would give this slide show a 5 out of 5.
My next resource is an activity that I found called, "Memory Matters." By using a deck of cards you test your memory skills. During this activity you use two different types of strategies, one uses your seeing senses, and the other uses your hearing senses. You can use this activity in your own classroom, it is for grade levels 5-8. Although this game is not directly focused on the different learning styles I think it is a good resource for this subject because you still are testing your senses and seeing which one works best for you. I find this a great activity and it could be useful for someone wanting to play it in their classroom. I would give this game a 4 out of 5 since it's not directly focused on the main learning styles. http://www.pbs.org/saf/1102/teaching/teaching2.htm
This link below is a video that did not have an embed code but I thought it was a good resource because Dr. Brian Boyd talks about how he doesn't necessarily believe in different learning styles, and he thinks that the concept still needs to be explored. It is a short three minute clip, and I think it is interesting hearing his point of view. I would give this a 2 out of 5. http://www1.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=233335&title=learning_styles_debate&vpkey=
This next one I chose because I felt like it did a horrible job in explaining learning styles. I didn't like how it said if the students weren't learning it was strictly the teachers fault because the student didn't match well with his or her teaching style. Sometimes students struggle with a teachers teaching style but that doesn't mean it is all the teachers fault. A student can still learn as long as they are willing to put in the effort. I would give this video a 1 out of 5.
I chose this video below because It has a lot of interesting information on how children learn. Howard Gardner talks about his theory of Multiple Intelligences and what he thinks about our education system. Multiple Intelligences and learning styles are connected in the sense that everyone learns differently and thinks in different ways. This is a great video that I feel a lot of people can learn from. I would give this a 5 out of 5.
For my Wiki research I chose Learning Styles. I feel that it is very important for teachers to incorporate different methods of teaching that reach all of the learning styles since every student learns differently.
The top 5 things I learned:
1. There are three major classifications or types of learning styles recognized with one more recently added on.The four main types of learning styles are visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and vocalic.
"Learning styles are various approaches or ways of learning. They involve education methods, particular to an individual, that are presumed to allow that individual to learn best. Most people prefer an identifiable method of interacting with, taking in, and processing stimuli or information. Based on this concept, the idea of individualized "learning styles" originated in the 1970s, and acquired enormous popularity."
2. What is the difference between those four learning styles?
Visual learners are those who generally think in terms of pictures.They often prefer to see things written down in a handout, text, or on the overhead. They find maps, graphs, charts, and other visual learning tools to be extremely effective. They remember things best by seeing something written. Auditory learners are those who generally learn best by listening. They typically like to learn through lectures, discussions, and reading aloud. They remember best through hearing or saying items aloud. Kinesthetic learners, also called tactile learners, are those who learn best through touching, feeling, and experiencing that which they are trying to learn. They remember best by writing or physically manipulation the information. Vocalic learners refers to talking oneself through something. These learners learn best by counting out loud, repeating, or verbalizing the steps in some process or procedure.
3. There is a danger in classifying students by learning style because it can result in a tendency toward pigeonholing students with these labels. For example, it is not uncommon to hear, "John likes to move around and is a kinesthetic learner, so he needs to be taught using hands-on activities rather than lecture-type instruction." Additionally, auditory learners are often viewed as being better at language arts, english, and social studies. Consequently, when a child is labeled with one particular learning style, it is often done through limited experience with one method of learning, or by making predictions about the ways in which teachers or parents think the students learn best.
4. Instead on focusing on the ways in which we think children learn best we should focus on two important things:
5. There are four main different learning style models:
Resources:
I chose this video because it not only gave you information about the different learning styles, but it also had funny video clips that demonstrated examples of each type of learning style. I would give this video a 3 out of 5 because it didn't go much into detail about the learning styles, but it was a fun video to watch.
The next video I chose because it was a short clip and I felt like it gave great examples of the learning styles. Dr. Brian Walsh also gave you clues of how to recognize different type of learners, which could be very helpful when communicating with your students. He also had other interesting ideas on labeling students, and also gives a few statistics. I think everyone should watch this five minute clip. I would give this video a 4 out of 5.
I really like this next video because it actually shows you the difference it can make by using these learning style strategies. It would not let me embed the video "upon request" but I posted the link and I encourage everyone to check it out, it is a shot three minute clip. I would give this video a 5 out of 5 because I felt like it was inspirational.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv_MzGSguF8&feature=related
The next resource I found is a slide show. I find this slide show extremely informational. It goes into full detail about everything you could know about learning styles, and what effect people's learning. It is somewhat long, but if you have the time to go through it I would recommend it because you really learn a lot. I would give this slide show a 5 out of 5.
My next resource is an activity that I found called, "Memory Matters." By using a deck of cards you test your memory skills. During this activity you use two different types of strategies, one uses your seeing senses, and the other uses your hearing senses. You can use this activity in your own classroom, it is for grade levels 5-8. Although this game is not directly focused on the different learning styles I think it is a good resource for this subject because you still are testing your senses and seeing which one works best for you. I find this a great activity and it could be useful for someone wanting to play it in their classroom. I would give this game a 4 out of 5 since it's not directly focused on the main learning styles.
http://www.pbs.org/saf/1102/teaching/teaching2.htm
This link below is a video that did not have an embed code but I thought it was a good resource because Dr. Brian Boyd talks about how he doesn't necessarily believe in different learning styles, and he thinks that the concept still needs to be explored. It is a short three minute clip, and I think it is interesting hearing his point of view. I would give this a 2 out of 5.
http://www1.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=233335&title=learning_styles_debate&vpkey=
This next one I chose because I felt like it did a horrible job in explaining learning styles. I didn't like how it said if the students weren't learning it was strictly the teachers fault because the student didn't match well with his or her teaching style. Sometimes students struggle with a teachers teaching style but that doesn't mean it is all the teachers fault. A student can still learn as long as they are willing to put in the effort. I would give this video a 1 out of 5.
I chose this video below because It has a lot of interesting information on how children learn. Howard Gardner talks about his theory of Multiple Intelligences and what he thinks about our education system. Multiple Intelligences and learning styles are connected in the sense that everyone learns differently and thinks in different ways. This is a great video that I feel a lot of people can learn from. I would give this a 5 out of 5.